Something Sweet
by yuki kawaii
Summary: It's Christmas Eve, and the Hokage planned a Christmas gettogether. The theme for giftgiving is something sweet. How sweet could a gift get? Read and find out! :D Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!


Author's Note: Merry Christmas and a happy new year to everyone! I'm aching to write a Christmas fic, so here you go! Actually, I decided to give up when it seemed like there's no time to write, so pardon me if this fic doesn't satisfy you. It's rushed. But hopefully, you'll review! –puppy eyes- Read on!

Disclaimer: Flame of Recca doesn't belong to me, but this fic does. –smiles-

**Something Sweet**

By: Yuki

There was a knock on the door, and an ever jolly-looking Recca Hanabishi opened it in a flash. Green garlands were tangled around his body, and he was wearing a bright red Santa Claus hat. The most radiant of all was the big grin plastered in his face.

"Fuuko! Thank heavens you came!" He exclaimed as he stepped inside to make way for his childhood friend. "I'm making a fool of myself with these garlands. Maybe you could deal with them for me?" He asked her, trying to free himself of the sparkly green. Fuuko chuckled, shaking your head.

"Nah, it actually looks good on you!" She dodged a Christmas ball that Recca grabbed from the tree and threw at her. She laughed harder, and Recca wasn't actually good at acting angry as he shared with the laughter. "Kidding, man!" Fuuko waved a hand as she walked towards the flame master and freed him from the tangle around him.

It was Christmas Eve, and the Hokage planned to have a Christmas party at the Hanabishi residence. Recca's father was away on business; he went to Tokyo to meet up with businessmen who were considering exporting his fireworks. Yet, he promised to be home on Christmas day. Meanwhile, Kagerou and Yanagi were cooking at the kitchen, and Recca was the one assigned to do the decorations. But he figured he wasn't really an expert at it, so he decided to call on Fuuko for help. The rest of the gang would be arriving for dinner, and they would spend the whole night together, eating and chatting. And then the highlight of the night would come: the Christmas gift-giving.

They started it with the _monito-monita_ way. A week before, each of them wrote down a code name on a piece of paper, rolled the pieces and mixed them, and then afterwards drew a name from the pot and read it out loud in front of everybody. Fuuko decided on using the code name "Snowflake". She thought that it was pretty brilliant, because whoever draws it would think it was Tokiya who was under that name. There was just one awkward twist though. Tokiya was the one who drew it, and he didn't seem pretty amused. Ice was his element after all, and nobody else's.

And so for the rest of the week, Fuuko had been receiving gifts from Tokiya, the latter not at all aware that he was spending his money and effort on "the monkey". But it wasn't like he did spend money and effort. He gave her a rock for something hard, a stick for something long, a one-yen coin for something round, a safety pin for something silver, cotton for something soft, and cotton buds for something funny. Really, the humor of that guy. Fuuko wondered if he even decided on what to give, or just got the first thing that came into his mind every time the theme of the present was given.

For the last day though, which was Christmas Eve, it would be the other way around. The one who's been receiving gifts for the whole week would give a gift to the one who drew his/her code name. In that case, Fuuko would be giving a gift to Tokiya. It would be a sort of revelation, and the gifts are expected to be the more special than all the gifts given during the rest of the week.

The theme? Something sweet.

The rest of the Hokage arrived at around 7 in the evening, and they started eating and sharing stories. Domon brought a karaoke CD so everyone had their turn to exercise their vocal chords. Well, everyone except Tokiya, who looked like he was willing to murder whoever had the nerve to hand him the microphone, even if it were Yanagi.

"Listen, everyone! Time for gift-giving!"

Recca jumped above the living room table to show that he was in charge. Kagerou and Yanagi frowned at his mischief, but Fuuko, Domon and Kaoru were hooting and cheering that the two ladies decided that it wasn't really a night of pleasantries after all.

"Okay, who starts?" Recca asked, his eyebrows raised in excitement.

"You do!" Domon shouted, aimlessly throwing a pop corn from the bowl that he was hugging.

"Okay, here you go then!" Recca jumped down from the table, carrying a bouquet of roses, and bowing down as he offered the beautiful collection to his own mother.

"Merry Christmas, mom." He said rather too sweetly, making him unlike his real self. He hesitated, but then kissed Kagerou on her cheek. The lady looked at him fondly as she ruffled his hair. "Thanks son." She said, looking like she was on the verge of tears. Recca, with cheeks painted red, decided that maybe they should carry on.

Kagerou still had her motherly smile as she said, "To the recipient of my gift: Thank you for the cute gifts that you have given me this week. Merry Christmas," she paused dramatically, "to you, Domon." She handed a huge flat box to the bulky guy

Domon expressed his gratitude and tore off the wrap from the box. Opening it, he looked genuinely surprised, and a second later he was jumping up and down in front of Kagerou, holding a frame with his right hand.

"This is beautiful Kagerou-san!" He squealed as rivers of tears artificially flowed from his eyes. He turned around and proudly held the masterpiece for everyone to see.

"Wait, that's-"

"Yes, my darling Fuuko," Fuuko winced. "This is the masterpiece made with dried flowers that had my nose bleeding ever since the museum opened. I can't believe it's now lying within the arms of its rightful possessor." He cried dramatically.

"Quit it now Domon. Get on with your gift." Recca budged in, but Domon was too obsessed with his drama to hear. It took another couple of minutes before he was sane enough to present his gift.

"Here you go! The sweetest thing for the sweetest girl!" He threw a large paper bag at Ganko, who was hit perfectly on the head but didn't seem hurt at all.

Ganko's eyes were wide as she opened the gift, and got even wider as finally, she uncovered what was inside. "Oh, thank you, Domon-niichan!" She exclaimed tearfully as she hugged the huge chocolate-colored teddy bear that had emerged from the bag. The scene was too adorable to cut off, but Ganko was the one to continue with the routine herself.

"Okay…" She gulped, and blushed. "Merry Christmas. And have a happy new year." She never bothered to say the name of the recipient of the gift as she hurried towards him, handed him a brown paper bag, and stepped back with her eyes glued to her shoes.

"Thanks," exclaimed a flustered Kaoru, as he reached inside the bag, producing a tidily knitted scarf. It was red, with a lone heart on a corner of one of its ends. Kaoru never looked so proud before. He knew Ganko had the same scarf, although pink in color with a red heart. "Thanks!" He exclaimed again, and finally Ganko looked up to meet his gaze, her cheeks as red as the scarf on his hands.

"Look, it makes me a whole lot cooler!" Kaoru shouted as he threw the scarf around his shoulders, and Ganko looked like she'd cry any moment. "Thanks, Kaoru..." She murmured, and Kaoru appeared like he wanted to hug her, although he didn't.

"Now for my gift! Merry Christmas, Yanagi-neechan!" He skipped to her and carefully handed her an average-sized flat box. She gave him her thanks, and after lifting the cover of the box, her right hand flew to her lips as she gasped.

"Kaoru, this is… it's beautiful." Yanagi wasn't able to hold back her tears. Out of curiosity, the rest of the gang inched closer, and was struck by what they saw. Recca was the first to break the silence.

"Wow… where in the world did you get this?"

It was a picture of a starry summer night. The stalls of food, masks and toys that usually lined up streets during summer festivals were portrayed in a distance. On the black sky was a display of fireworks, and below the wonderful sparks was a pair of spectators, their heads turned up towards the combination of colors.

The pair was a couple. The girl was wearing a yukata and holding a fan with her left hand. Her right hand was linked with the boy's left. What struck everyone was that the girl – although her hair was in a bun – had silky brown hair, while the boy's hair was black and spiky. The whole image looked like it was a shot of Recca and Yanagi during a summer festival night.

Kaoru just laughed, ruffling his own hair proudly. It took several minutes before everyone's awe lessened and they were able to continue.

Yanagi had the most blissful smile when she handed a box to Recca, wishing him a merry Christmas and a happy new year. Recca was initially surprised to find out it was her whom he had been giving gifts to during the previous days; he actually gave her a marble for something round, a piece of string for something long, and other things that he would prefer not to remember. Yanagi smiled at him as if reading his thoughts.

"It's okay. I was pretty amused with all that you gave me this week. Go on, open your gift." She said, making Recca blush. Instinctively, he lifted the cover of the box, and looked puzzled after seeing what looked like a thick notebook. He lifted the first page: there was a picture of the two of them. He started lifting one page after the other, and soon enough he was grinning like a maniac and flipping like there's no tomorrow. He excitedly lifted his gaze to Yanagi.

"Thanks!" He shouted whole-heartedly as he captured her beautiful form in a hug.

She made a scrapbook of the two of them, of everything that they've been through together. It looked even more wonderful because Yanagi was an artist, and mostly because she made him feel all her love for him with all that she wrote and drew in it.

Recca was still flushed when he told everyone they'd continue. But there was a problem.

"Wait, is the gift-giving over?" He asked for clarification, since he had been the one to start the gift-giving, and now he'd received a gift as well.

"Wait-" Fuuko was just starting her sentence when she cut herself off. Stupid Fuuko! It would have been better if she just kept her gift to herself. It's not like it really mattered to Tokiya if he received a gift or not. And a revelation too.

"Oh, yeah, Fuuko still hasn't had her turn. Fuuko, go on and give your gift." Recca was fast at predicting what she wanted to say for once.

Fuuko took a deep breath. It was then, or never. The rest of the world faded away as she walked to Tokiya, her hand clutching her gift so hard her knuckles turned slightly white.

"Merry Christmas, Mi-chan." She didn't look at him as she thrust her gift forward. Fortunately, he just gave her a grunt and took the gift. He wouldn't bother to open it, right?

Wrong.

For once Fuuko realized that Tokiya wasn't the ever-predictable i-don't-care-about-the-world ice block that she thought him to be. She actually expected him to throw her gift away when no one was looking, without even seeing what was inside. Well, okay… that was an exaggeration; Tokiya wasn't that rude, but… Fuuko's heart was beating so wildly that for a moment she couldn't think straight.

Tokiya raised an eyebrow. Chocolates for Christmas?

"I-" Fuuko started, but Tokiya cut her off with his own question.

"Are you really that stupid to think that it was Valentine's Day today?" His stare was unnerving.

Fuuko's face went red, both in anger and embarrassment. She was stuttering. "No… I mean, I…"

"I know you like me that much," Fuuko gulped, but the huge lump in her throat stayed. "But you could have gathered a little more patience. You know, Valentine's Day is just two months away." Fuuko's face couldn't get any redder.

"You… You conceited know-it-all ice block!" Her fist was shaking. "I didn't even say I like you!" Well, of course she didn't. But it was the message that she _did _want to convey when she decided to give him chocolates.

Tokiya smirked. He stretched out his right hand towards her. Fuuko looked at him quizzically and open her palm. He released what was kept within his fingers; it landed perfectly on her smooth skin.

A piece of candy.

Something sweet, all right.

But before Fuuko could retort, he was already in front of her.

And he kissed her.

It happened in a blink, and the next instant the warmth of his lips on hers was gone. Fuuko's eyes were wide and she was stunned to silence. Tokiya smirked, and pointed to her hand.

"Read." He commanded.

Fuuko looked at the candy on her hand. Read what?

There was only one word written, in bold and capital letters: Chocolate.

Fuuko smiled. It turned out that he did get her something sweet for Christmas after all.

**End**

Author's Note: Wow, I actually finished it. Less than two hours. I hope it's good enough though. – crosses fingers –

About the chocolate, for those who people who don't know: In Japan, girls give choco to the guys they like on Valentine's day. For other countries, specifically the Philippines, it's the guys who give chocolates (or flowers) to the girls they like. I kinda mixed them up. XD

The _monito-monita_ is sort of complicated to explain. I'm not sure if people do it all over the world. For those who have questions, kindly pm me. Or I'll be happier if you'd leave a review. –LOL-

Thank you for reading! Please review! It would be the best Christmas gift... Thanks! hugs

Merry Christmas and a happy new year to everyone! God bless:D


End file.
